SNOWDEN, Sask. – Lyn Brown knew she wouldn’t be riding a tractor when she acquired two quarters of organic farmland from her parents.
Allan and Reta Birkenthal, who still own another quarter of land at Bedard Creek Organic Farms, said their daughter’s interests lie in her long-time hobby of concocting recipes in the kitchen.
“She was always into herbs and growing plants and flowers and saw the possibilities,” Allan said.
More recently, Brown has developed salves, tinctures and oils from what grows well on the northeastern Saskatchewan farm and created the Bedard Creek Acres brand of red clover blossom syrup.
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“I see that as a real future for three quarters of organic farmland,” said Brown, who lives in Prince Albert, Sask., and is chief executive officer of the city’s chamber of commerce.
She thinks the red clover blossom syrup holds the most commercial potential.
Brown’s daughters Angela Hoffort of Saskatoon and Carmen Legge of Calgary joined the business in 2007 and added their expertise in science and engineering.
“I get really excited about what’s growing and what farmers are fighting against,” Hoffort said of common weeds, edible flowers and organic crops that can be infused into a host of creams and oils or used to make food such as black pansy syrup.
They focus their marketing on trade shows and the company website at bedardcreekacres.ca.
Carmen’s husband, Dan Legge, a computer specialist maintains the website. He also cares for his and Hoffort’s preschoolers when the women are at trade shows, picking or processing.
“The product has a lot of potential,” he said, noting how they are co-marketing whole grain pancakes, as well as the red clover syrup.
He said a website is critical in business.
“People like to research the product on-line.”
Family members manage their expenses by doing most of the work themselves. Carmen seeks out processes to optimize production while Angela conducts research, analyzes nutritional content and designs the packaging. Allan does the field work and Reta and Lyn’s school-aged daughters, Crystal and Arianna, help out wherever needed.
“Between all of the bodies, it all gets taken care of,” said Hoffort.
Brown developed the syrup recipe through trial and error. The process starts by making a tea from the flowers and then mixing it with sugar and boiling it down to syrup.
She sees the enterprise as a good use of a small organic farm. The family also uses the Snowden community hall’s kitchen for processing.
In addition to family and community support, the venture has also worked with the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre and the University of Saskatchewan business school and received $19,000 from Saskatchewan Agriculture for work on process efficiencies, branding and research at the POS Pilot Plant in Saskatoon.
Most recently, Riverbend Plantation offered the company processing space in its facility.
The Birkenthals live in Choiceland, Sask., and use a refurbished home on the farm as their base during the growing season. It also doubles as a gathering place for the family and a base to enjoy nearby lakes.
Brown, who sees the potential to sustain the farm for future generations, hopes to expand markets beyond Saskatchewan and add agritourism experiences.
“When (Hoffort and Carmen) became part of the business, I realized we were able to move it forward,” Brown said.
Hoffort and Brown think the timing is right for locally produced organic food.
“People are starting to become aware about where their food comes from,” Brown said.
Farming without chemicals for the last 10 years was an easy choice for the Birkenthals.
“I never really was a chemical man,” Allan said, as the evening grosbeaks flit between feeders in the heavily treed farmyard.
“It’s a personal decision. Fertilizer and chemical, I didn’t care for wasting that kind of money.”
Allan said his organic farm requires less fuel to operate and gives him a better return for his crops of wheat, flax and barley.
Bushels per acre are lower but returns are good, he said, citing the $8 he is paid for his barley compared to $3.80 for a conventionally produced crop.
He hires a broker and a B-train to pick up his grain, often sweeping out the truck himself to satisfy certified organic requirements.
He has the best results seeding in late May and runs the harrow over emerging crops to control weeds.
He plants the sweet clover with the grain, and the women pick the red clover blossoms for their business. He plows down the rest in fall as green manure.
He and Reta are optimistic about the farm’s future producing unique food and the opportunity it presents for them to ease into retirement.
“It turns my crank 100 percent,” Allan said.
“I figure this is going to be pretty good.”
Added Reta: “The one thing for us to do is to get Lyn and the girls on their feet and sit back and watch.”
